[ SECRET POST #2679 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2679 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 058 secrets from Secret Submission Post #383.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

07. http://i.imgur.com/7BLnEEp.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Black Company by Glen Cook.

[loracarol]

I was going to ask, so thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

I figured someone was going to have to reverse image search eventually...

[loracarol]

I've honestly never tried that with a secret; does the text cause issues?

[(Anonymous)]

Didn't seem to.

[loracarol]

Huh, interesting, I'll have to try that sometime. :D

[tyger66]

text causes no problems. I actually had just finished right click + google searching the pic, haha. (on google chrome it even opens in a new tab, so it's super convenient!)

[loracarol]

Ooh sweet! I'll give that a shot next time. :D

[souljelly]

Thanks!

It's frustrating when this happens; I feel you, OP. Usually I nominate them for Yuletide and cross my fingers that whatever rare fandom I'm craving is assigned to someone who'd write fic for it.

[(Anonymous)]

Oooh, I heard good things about this one. Might have to start reading now, find OP and do a fic-exchange!

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for that! I thought I mentioned the fandom, but apparently not.

[rbhudson]

Thanks!

[thistlechaser]

Thanks! The cover image is interesting, I'm going to check the series out.

[kaffy_r]

It's a fantastic series, although it's brutal and sad in many ways. The final book ended with some stunning imagery and a feeling of alien ... completeness. Cook's pretty awesome altogether (have you tried any of his Garrett novels? Noir fantasy Damon Runyan, and pure brilliance, albeit more than a little redolent of the sexist attitudes of the genre. Does it wittily - and in later books, he really modifies that, as his lead character matures and becomes a better human being ... yeah, probably TMI.)

[hiyami]

Oh hey, thank you for a Black Company secret!
Glen Cook's series is the example I bring up every time people rave about Games of Thrones being the one and only "realistic heroic fantasy" out there, and why of course it's necessary to have 2 rapes per novel for it.

I really loved those novels, though they're probably harder to read than Games of Thrones.
I didn't feel like writing fan-fictions or looking for a proper fandom, though, because the stories seemed well-rounded as they were. There's hardly room for more, is it?

In lieu of fan-art, check the official art covers of the French edition at L'Atalante publisher, by Didier Graffet. They really caught my eyes when I discovered the series.

[(Anonymous)]

Are you saying that Black Company does or does not have 2 rapes per novel?

[hiyami]

It doesn't.
It gets very dark in places, actually it is dark and gritty pretty much all the time, but I don't recall a single rape. Maybe allusions (I last read it several years ago), but not a regular thing.

[ariakas]

I just finished the first book today, and there are definitely direct mentions of rape in it. Nothing happens on screen, so to speak, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Did you forget how they first came across Darling? That was pretty horrific. But even then he doesn't describe it in graphic detail and doesn't try to make it titillating.

[(Anonymous)]

In that case, I'll give it a try!

[hokuton_punch]

OP I FUCKING LOVE THE BLACK COMPANY BOOKS. I wish they had a giant fandom. :(

[ariakas]

Oddly enough, I just finished the first of these books today, after so many rave reviews. I suspect they get much better as they go along, because his prose is more than a little amateurish in this one, but I was definitely entertained. A non-traditional approach to fantasy if there ever was one.

[(Anonymous)]

Glen Cook has been one of my favorite authors since the 80s, but his standalone novels are better, IMO.

I don't think there ever was a fandom for the Black Company, even at the time. Probably because his readership has always been very limited: to to be fair, the Black Company books are unlikely to appeal to most, and certainly not to a teenage audience and it's teenagers who drive most fandoms.

Plus, his books have rarely had any marketing at all and they tend to be too... intelligent? Complex? Adult? Mm. Let's say full of really smart if usually biased characters, some sympathetic, some monstrous.

For instance, the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are a very nearly direct plagiarism of Glen Cook's Garrett stories (which I used to love), but does anyone ever mention that? No, because the Dresden Files is much more immediately accessible as well as a lot more sexist in spite of being a lot more recent... Yes, I don't get it either.

But if you liked the Black Company books, I highly recommend 'The Dark Tower' and 'The Dragon Never Sleeps', both standalone novels which in my opinion are his masterpieces, though of VERY different genres: they are highly original and gripping, full of smart and imperfect characters one cannot help but root for.

I cannot guarantee that either ends with the hero riding off into the sunset with the heroine. It's just not the way Glen Cook rolls, in spite of the fact that his female characters are a lot stronger and more interesting than most. To start with, they rarely seem to need a male love interest to validate them, a concept that Hollywood for instance seems to find repugnant. You know: "OMG, Uhura does not already have a romantic interest? Which male character can we find that would reduce her to an unprofessional bundle of hormones for? Quick, quick! Brainstorm it for me, people!"). :(

Upon reflection, either of these two books would probably delight slash and femslash fans... the type who read everything with slash goggles I mean (like me, I guess).